Practice Makes Perfect
by japaneserockergirl
Summary: ...or so they say; Matt and Jaime practice thier powers with humorous results. Post-Nightrise, pre-Necropolis.


Hey all! This is japaneserockergirl here with my first PO5 fic! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I, japaneserockergirl, do not own any of The Power of Five/The Gatekeepers characters, series, audiobooks, or media associated with the aforementioned series in any way, shape, or form. If I did, the fourth book would be out already!

**P**ractice **M**akes **P**erfect

**Summary:** ...or so they say. Matt and Jaime practice their powers with hilarious results. Rated T for some language and character angsting.

Jaime was restless. He had been reviewing the Language Arts book Professor Chambers had given him for the past half hour but couldn't fully focus on the material. His mind kept on flashing back to his brother, Scott. Jaime had thought that when he found Scott, it would be a wonderful reunion for the both of them. However, it had been the opposite; when he had found him standing on the terrace with that woman, about to kill Senator Trelawney, his heart nearly shattered.

Scott had seemed so distant, broken. His eyes, usually confident and calm, were blank, as if something inside him had died...and Jaime knew something had. And the fact that he couldn't access Scott's mind didn't help the situation, either. Just what had those _bastards_ done to him while he was at Silent Creek? Jaime shuddered as some of Carlton Banes' memories floated to the surface of his mind. He had a pretty good idea. He forced them back into his subconscious. Dwelling on the past wasn't going to help things. Now that he knew of his destiny, Jaime figured that he should practice his telepathy on different people...

The tan male glanced at the bedroom door across from the living room.

_But first things first..._

Jaime _had_ to know if Scott was okay. Pedro was still healing him, and when Jaime had tried to come into the room, he had been assaulted by a flurry of Spanish words and kicked out. Best not to try that again.

_Scott..._

Jaime's eyes glazed as he contacted his brother. The colors of the room began to melt, surrounding him in black and white outlines of the furniture and portraits decorating the now-nonexistent walls. He felt a part of himself leave his body as his concentration strengthened.

_Scott...are you there?_

_'Jaime...'_ his brother replied weakly.

Jaime sighed with relief. _I'm glad I can talk to you again..._

_'So am I.'_

There was a comfortable silence.

_'Jaime?'_

_Yeah?_

_'Did you...did you really try to look for me? Even going as far as getting into jail?'_

_Of _course_ I did, Scott. I'd...I'd never abandon you! You're my brother. No matter what happened, you were always by my side, always protected me. So when you got kidnapped, I knew I had to return the favor..._

_'I'm glad. Thank you.'_

_You're welcome...I should probably let you rest now. Later, Scott._

_'Later, Jaime.'_

Jaime headed out of the bedroom and into the hallway. He was a bit reluctant to pull this off. True, these people weren't a _thing_ like Banes, but who's to say they were angels? He stepped back a bit when he spotted someone in one of the bedrooms that was _perfect._ There, asleep on the bed, was Richard Cole, Matt's guardian. Jaime let out a shuddery breath as he nervously connected with the sleeping man. His face instantly contorted with disgust and he raced out of the room, covering his face as he cried, "MY EYES!"

Jaime was so busy trying to rid his mind of the disturbing images that he wasn't aware that there was someone else walking down the hallway until he collided with them.

"Ow..." Jaime groaned, rubbing his head, "Sorry about that..."

His brown eyes met sharp blue ones that were examining him intensely. Matt got off the floor, dusting himself off.

"What were you _doing_?" He pulled Jaime up.

"I was looking for someone to practice my telepathy with, since Scott's sick and all..."

"Well, that makes sense. I just hope you weren't planning on using _Richard_, though. I haven't known him for very long, but something tells me that he doesn't exactly have the _holiest_ of thoughts... (Matt smirked a bit.) He _is_ twenty-five, after all."

"Oh, _really_?" Jaime muttered bitterly.

Matt raised his eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing. Hey Matt, what are you doing right now?"

"Nothing, really; just thinking."

"Hey, how about _you_ try practicing your powers?"

Matt snorted. "Now _there's _a laugh."

"What?"

Matt glared strongly at his hand, as though there was something disgusting on it he needed to wipe off. "My powers never want to work when I want them to. It's only by sheer luck that I get them to kick in when I need them."

"And that's why you need to practice. Don't you see? If you master your powers, then it'll make things easier."

"Yeah, but it only works when I smell this burning scent."

Jaime stared at him weirdly. "_Burning_? What does burning have to do with telekinesis**(1.);(2.)**?"

"Don't ask."

"Burning, huh? Come with me into the kitchen."

"Um, _why_?" Matt didn't like where this was going.

"Don't worry about it."

Matt reluctantly followed his ally into the kitchen. Jaime turned on the gas stove, the small, blue-orange flames dancing around the circular vent as they emerged from below. He then tossed a dish rag onto the fire, watching as they hungrily devoured the fabric.

"What are you _doing_?!" Matt cried, shoving Jaime out of the way. He tossed the cloth onto the floor and stomped the flames out. He turned off the stove, panting. He shot a look at Jaime. "What is wrong with you? I don't know what you call it back home, but where _I_ come from, that's _arson_!"

"Well, you _said_ that your powers were activated by burning, so I figured I'd burn something and see if it helped," Jaime replied, sounding a bit hurt.

"Couldn't you have done that _without_ burning the whole place down?"

"_Uh..._"

"Forget it; let me find something to practice on..." Matt sighed. His eyes fell on a glass of water sitting on the counter. "That's it...hey, Jaime. You thirsty?"

"Why?"

Matt smirked. "You'll see."

He closed his eyes. The kitchen faded into darkness; the birds and crickets **(3.) **outside fell silent. The gentle breeze coming in from the window stopped brushing against his face. Only the burning smell remained in the abyss. He pictured the glass in front of him, slowly making its way to Jaime. As luck would have it, the glass began to shake. Jaime held his breath. Matt thrust his hand forward, using his fingers to release his power onto the glass and lift it off the counter.

"Easy..._easy..._"

Matt felt a few beads of sweat form at his forehead as he directed the cup towards Jaime. Jaime anxiously stared at the glass, waiting for it to come to his hand—

_RRRRIIINNNG!_

Matt's eyes shot open. The glass fell onto the floor, shattering into transparent pieces, the water escaping through the tiles.

"Aw, so _close!_" Jaime sighed.

The boys headed towards the living room, where a cordless phone could be found on a small wooden table. The answering machine clicked on; it was a call from the housekeeper, who would be gone for a week due to illness. The two walked into the balcony, the gentle, warm late-spring air and bright sun welcoming them.

"If only it hadn't rung; you were almost there!"

"Well, at least _something_ happened this time. You have no idea how many times I've looked like an idiot because my powers refused to work..." Matt sighed. "And besides, lifting a glass isn't going to be enough. If I want to defeat the Old Ones, I'm going to have to do better than that."

"Aren't you all high and mighty? Don't forget, we're all in this together: you, me, Scott, and that guy healing him who won't stop cursing at me in Spanish--"

"Pedro."

"_Right._ Anyway, we're all on the same side, fighting the same battle."

"That's easy for _you_ to say; you and Scott have been practicing telepathy since you were little; Pedro can heal anybody with the touch of his _finger_. What about me? Where do I fit into this picture?"

"You're the leader! You have the most important job of all--"

"But what if I fail?"

"But what if you _succeed_? Look, I'm no expert speechmaker or an optimist or anything like that, but I still think we can do this...I'm sure how, but I know we can."

"..."

"Okay, look at it this way: Once we defeat the Old Ones, we can live normal lives. Isn't that what you want, Matt? A normal life?"

"Of _course_!" He gently smacked Jaime on the forehead.

The two fell into a comfortable silence. Matt didn't understand it. He had only known this guy for what, a _week_? And yet he was already bonding with him as though he was a long-lost brother; it didn't make sense...but Matt didn't care. It was just nice to know that he wasn't going through this alone. Now, all they needed to do was find the last Gatekeeper...

_Scar..._

"Uh, Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"You cleaned up the spilled water and broken glass..._right_?"

"No; I thought you did."

"_No..._"

Matt's eyes widened. "Then we better get back before--"

"_WHOA!_" the two boys heard Richard yell, followed by a loud _CRASH_ and the clanging of pots and pans against the floor.

"Heh, heh; I think this would be a good time to check up on Scott..." Jaime muttered nervously, slowly slipping back into the house.

"_Yeah..._I'll join you."

The two ran into the hallway.

_I came up with this about an hour or two after I finished _Nightrise _during my summer vacation and was pissed off about _Necropolis_ not coming to the U.S. until next year. So I figured I'd write it down and upload it later. I was curious about what the guys would do considering they most likely have some spare time before they have to go find Scarlett and wah-la! This popped into my head! XD I tried to bring out the more humorous side of _The Gatekeepers/The Power of Five _considering that you see very little of it in the novels themselves. I apologize if the characters seemed a bit OOC for you; this _is_ my first fic, after all. _

_Anyway, just push that little purple button and review! Constructive criticism will be loved! Flames will merely be used to cook my dinner! XD_

**1.) According to wikipedia—and my own senses—Matt uses telekinesis.**

**2.) I asked the same question when I first read _Raven's Gate._**

**3.) Where I come from, you can hear the damn things day _and_ night...**


End file.
